National

Kate Kendell is set to depart NCLR after 22 years. (Photo courtesy NCLR) Lesbian activist Kate Kendell is set to step down from her role as head of the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights after 22 years on the job, the organization announced Thursday. Kendell said in a statement her decades on the(…)

Two adoption agencies in Philadelphia, US have been found to turn away LGBTQ couples from their services. A lesbian couple has spoken out about how they were turned away from Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Social Services – two separate agencies which are listed with the Department of Human Services. The department has issued an(…)

Donald Trump has ousted his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with former GOP lawmaker Mike Pompeo, who has an extensive anti-LGBT record. Under the leadership of former oil exec Rex Tillerson, Trump’s State Department had maintained some of the work on global LGBT rights that had begun under the Obama administration. While other(…)

Andy Leach was a special kid with a bright smile. But as he struggled with his sexual orientation and came out of the closet, bullies at Southaven Middle School were brutal. “He was a very loving young boy. He had a contagious smile,” his mother, Cheryl Hudson, told News Channel 3. “He was outdoorsy. He(…)

Kerri Evelyn Harris is challenging Tom Carper in the U.S. Senate race in Delaware. (Photo courtesy of Facebook) Lesbian Democrat Kerri Evelyn Harris, a community activist and member of the Delaware Human Relations Commission, announced last month that she will challenge Delaware’s incumbent U.S. Senator and longtime LGBT rights supporter Tom Carper in the Democratic(…)

Shane Morgan and husband Landon A gay couple are suing the Tennessee Republican Party – over an anti-gay attack ad that used a photo from their wedding. Shane Morgan and husband Landon were stunned to see pictures from their special day used as part of a leaflet attack ad paid for by the state GOP.(…)

A coalition is seeking to unseat anti-LGBT Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), but he has support from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). (Washington Blade photo of Pelosi by Michael Key; photo of Lipinski public domain) The nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group is spearheading a $1.3 million effort to unseat from Congress a nearly extinct(…)

A lesbian teacher who wrote to her school asking for LGBT students to be protected against discrimination has been suspended for six months. Stacy Bailey, who was made teacher of the year at Texas’s Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in 2016, wrote to several school board members in August. The art teacher wanted to “begin a(…)

‘ Stonewall pioneer Marsha P. Johnson has finally been given a obituary in the New York Times – more than 25 years on from her death. Johnson, an African-American transgender woman and drag performer, made her name in the queer community in 1960s New York. She is most famous for playing and a key role in the(…)

A group of 22 GOP senators is reintroducing a controversial measure that would protect opponents of same-sex marriage from federal actions intended to curb discrimination. The First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) would bar the federal government from taking any action against individuals who discriminate against same-sex couples or others based on “a sincerely held religious belief.” The bill(…)